Escanaba Business Professionals of America perform well at conferences

Noah Johnson Daily Press Escanaba Business Professionals of America (BPA) students Nick Garcia, Sophie Lehto and Emerson Salo speak to the Escanaba Board of Education about their accomplishments at conferences in downstate Michigan and Florida during Monday’s meeting.
The Escanaba School Board heard a presentation from a group of students dedicated to leadership, community involvement and business at its meeting on Monday.
The board heard from four students in the Escanaba Business Professionals of America (BPA) after their recent trips to the Student Leadership Conference (SLC) and the National Leadership Conference (NLC).
Trips to the SLC and NLC come after the group performed extremely well at the Regional Leadership Conference, where BPA students from 10 Upper Peninsula schools and Bay College competed in 56 different competitions.
The BPA is a national career and technical student organization focusing on leadership, competition and business skills.
Students representing the BPA at the meeting were Nick Garcia, Sophie Lehto, Emerson Salo and Cash Royer.
Garcia shared some of the accomplishments of the BPA, including its state service project, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, which raised over $1,000 to fund childhood cancer research.
“Outside of the state service project, we also held a school-wide toy drive and donated over 50 toys for Toys for Tots. Every chapter member also volunteered at least 10 hours of their time to the community,” Garcia shared.
The group was also recognized for its work and dedication at the SLC.
“Our Escanaba High School’s chapter started with this year with 47 members. We raised over $1,000 for charity, and we were given two different awards at SLC,” Salo said.
The SLC, hosted in Grand Rapids, hosts over 2,000 people and over 100 schools from across Michigan.
“26 students from Escanaba went. Escanaba BPA won two awards for the whole state, and then we have one student qualified for the national leadership conference,” Garcia said.
Students were not the only ones recognized for their work at the NLC, as business teacher Cheri Lehto took home the Barbara Chambers Outstoanding Advisor Award.
The award is given to two advisors from across the state to an advisor who went above and beyond for their respective BPA chapters.
“She grew the BPA club at Escanaba from four students to 47 in this time (14 years). She has shown exceptional leadership, outstanding service at the regional and state levels, and a lasting impact on the students who have been a part of BPA. And there are two or three of her Escanaba students that still participate in BPA today,” said (Sophie) Lehto.
Because of their performance at the SLC, seven students attended the NLC, hosted in Orlando, Fla.
Salo, Lehto, and Garcia attended as volunteers, while students Nick Chaillier, Zack Wirhabowicz, and Cale Carter qualified for e-sports, winning second place overall for their exhibit and fourth overall at the NLC.
Royer qualified for the SQL Database, who shared that because of the BPA and his knowledge of SQL, he recently got a job in the tech field.
Salo, Lehto and Garcia all confirmed that they have plans to attend college and pursue a career in business.
“Working with these BPA students was a great experience. They were well behaved, very polite, great sense of humor, and we’re almost sad that the seasons (finished) because it was great kids to work with,” said Board President Jim Beauchamp.
In other business, the board:
– Recognized and honored four individuals retiring from the district, including Tim Bishop, network technician; Cheri Lehto, business instructor; Glenda Schoff, third-grade teacher; and Emily Marlett, speech therapist.
Marlett was not present, but Escanaba Superintendent Dr. Coby Fletcher determined that there was 80 years of education experience among the other three.
“As a superintendent, it’s always sad to see folks go, but I’m always glad to think about the contributions that you have in a district with people who have a cumulative total of 80 years serving kids,” Fletcher said.
– Discussed an already approved facility project – a bathroom installation at the Escanaba High School, by the tennis courts and tracks. At a previous meeting, the board approved a bid from Roy Ness Contracting and Sales in the amount of $267,000. The start date for construction is June 9, weather permitting.
Escanaba Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Coby Fletche wanted to ensure the board was content with the bathroom placement before Roy Ness began construction. Moving the location could save some money, but access to the facility would be less direct. The board ultimately decided to keep the original plan, placing the bathroom west of the existing tennis courts, citing access and ADA compliance.
– Heard from Secretary JJ Johnson-Reeves regarding the most recent Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District meeting.
– Nominated JJ Johnson-Reeves to be the representative and vote caster for ISD Board elections on behalf of the Escanaba School Board.
– Heard a legislative report from Vice President Steve Howes regarding legislative updates pertaining to schools.
– Heard from JJ Johnson-Reeves, Steve Howes and Jim Beauchamp on what they learned during the most recent Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) Conference.
– Listened to a presentation from Fletcher regarding area school employees and how they are categorized.
– Adopted a resolution approving the ISD budget.
– Approved new policy updates.